


The Dance of a Lifetime

by Mae01



Series: Marauders Modern AU [13]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ballroom Dancing, Best Friends, Established Sirius Black/Remus Lupin, F/M, Fanfiction, Fluff, Friendship, Friendship/Love, James Potter Loves Lily Evans Potter, M/M, Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter), Modern Marauders (Harry Potter), One Shot, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Remus Lupin & Lily Evans Potter Friendship, Slow Dancing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-17 18:21:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29476134
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mae01/pseuds/Mae01
Summary: James and Lily danced. They had always danced together since they started dating in their third year of high school. On their first date, James asked Lily what she loved to do but never did, and this was how that conversation changed their relationship.
Relationships: Harry Potter & James Potter & Lily Evans Potter, James Potter/Lily Evans Potter, Remus Lupin & Harry Potter, Remus Lupin & James Potter, Remus Lupin & Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black & Harry Potter, Sirius Black & James Potter, Sirius Black & Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin & Harry Potter, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin & Harry Potter & James Potter & Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin & James Potter, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin & James Potter & Lily Evans Potter, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Series: Marauders Modern AU [13]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2138295
Kudos: 16





	The Dance of a Lifetime

**Author's Note:**

> This is a stand-alone work. There are other stories in the universe, but you do not need to read other stories to understand this one. HOWEVER, part of this work takes place after 'Wait, I'm Pregnant?' You do not need to read it to understand, but it will clear up any confusion you may have about the scene.
> 
> I do not own any Harry Potter characters all characters belong to JK Rowling.

James and Lily danced. They had always danced together since they started dating in their third year of high school. On their first date, James asked Lily what she loved to do but never did, and this was how that conversation changed their relationship.

**Age 17**

“So,” James said after he and Lily had left the restaurant. “Would you like to go for a walk in the park? We still have 45 minutes before either of our friends will be sitting on our beds waiting for the details of how the date went.” They both laughed at this knowing that James wasn’t wrong. Once Lily turned on her lights in her room, Remus would start crawling from his window through hers to hear how the date when. James shared a room with Sirius so there was no doubt that he would be sitting in their room waiting for James to get back.

“That sounds lovely,” Lily smiled as she and James turned towards the park.

They walked soundlessly for a while until they sat on a bench in front of the pond and James asked a question.

“What is something you love to do but never do?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean,” James started. “What is something that you love to do but rarely ever do. Like, you get a thrill from it or you feel weightless when you do it but there’s a reason why you rarely do it. Does that make more sense?”

“It does,” Lily said. She sat there and thought for a minute before a little smile crossed her lips. “I love to dance. I love slow dancing but I rarely do it anymore.”

“How did you learn and why did you stop?”

“I learned when I was a little girl. I would stand on my dad’s toes and he would waltz me around the living room. Once I got a bit older, I didn’t need to stand on his toes anymore because I knew the steps.” There was a small smile on Lily’s face as she remembered dancing with her dad. “Once he started getting older and busier, there just wasn’t any time to dance so I stopped.”

“Did you ever dance with Remus?”

“Oh no,” Lily said with a laugh. “He has two left feet. He tried to get me to teach him last year but he kept stepping on my toes and we eventually ended up laughing too hard to continue. After that, we both agreed that he would need a professional dancer to teach him after if he wanted to learn.”

Lily sat and stared at the pond with a smile while James sat beside her and looked at her.

“Lily?”

“Hmm?”

“Would you like to dance?”

“Do you know how to dance?” Lily asked with a surprised tone.

“I do, my mum and dad dance a lot and they taught me when I was eight.” Standing up, James held his hand out to help Lily up. As she stared at his hand, Lily smiled before taking his hand and let him lead her to some flat ground.

James put the hand he wasn’t holding Lily’s with on her waist and she put her hand on his shoulder. Taking the lead, James started the danced. They had no music, but that was okay. Sometimes you don’t need music to enjoy a dance. Sometimes, all one needed was to look into their partner’s eyes and they would be able to get lost in the dance just like one would if there was music in the background.

This was how the tradition started. They had people stare at them when they started dancing in the middle of nowhere, but they didn’t care. They would start dancing in the middle of a park, in The Order when there were no customers, in their backyard when it was dark and everywhere in between.

**Age 18**

“James!” Lily exclaimed from part of the garden around Herstmonceux Castle. James, Sirius, Remus and Lily were on their graduation road trip and were walking around the grounds of one of their destinations.

“Yes, my dear?” James responded as he and Sirius ran to catch up with their two friends.

“Do you want to dance?”

“Yes!” With a bright smile on both of their faces, James and Lily stepped off the path and started waltzing with each other. As other tourists passed and gave the couple an either amused or confused look, Remus and Sirius took out their phones to take pictures. James nor Lily ever asked for their friends to take pictures and even rarely noticed when they would, but Remus and Sirius loved seeing their best friends as happy as they were when dancing so they would take photos or videos to save for later.

“They’re happy when they dance,” Sirius started. 

“They are,” Remus replied. “They are really adorable, I’m glad she found someone to dance with her.”

“Didn’t she try to teach you?”

“Yep, and that obviously didn’t work out. She needs someone who will let loose with her and not worry about what the people watching might think.”

“James as well. He will never admit it, but he has always loved dancing. I think he loves it even more now that he has someone to dance with.”

“Do you think they will continue to dance if they get married and grow old together?”

“Well,” Sirius replied in a quieter voice. “Don’t tell Lily, but James has already ordered a ring to propose to her with. But yes, I do think they will be the old couple in the nursing home that try to slow dance with their walkers.”

“That’ll be interesting for us if we follow them to whatever old folks home they go to. Well, unless we are both dead before that.”

“You are a morbid man, Remus Lupin.”

As James and Lily finished dancing, Remus shot his friend a quick smile before walking over to continue exploring the grounds with Lily.

**Age 19**

Remus and Sirius were hiding behind the trees in the park as they watched James and Lily walk off the path to look at the flowers on their date. This was the same park that they went to after their first date and where they both had their first dance with each other. As Sirius and Remus were hiding behind the trees with cameras, they watched as James stood behind Lily and kneeled down on one knee and waited for his girlfriend to turn around. They started taking pictures at this moment and didn’t stop until the ring was on Lily’s finger and the two had started waltzing with big smiles on their faces. This was where their first dance as a couple had been and this was the place that James wanted them to dance at as a newly engaged couple.

**Age 20**

James and Lily took the centre of the dance floor as they started their first dance together as a married couple. Lily was wearing a beautiful wedding dress with white lace and a small silver tiara on her head. James was wearing a handsome suit with a lily as his boutonniere.

“I love you, James Potter,” Lily said quietly with a big smile on her face as she looked into her husband’s eyes.

“I love you too, Lily Potter,” James said with an equally big smile on his face.

“Did you realize that many people have their first dance with their partner at their wedding but this actually is our 58th dance?”

“Believe it or not, I actually knew it was our 58th dance. You aren’t the only one who keeps track of our dances. It is kind of funny that many couples have their first dance at the wedding and we’ve been dancing since our first date.”

“I’m glad you asked that question that night.”

“Me too, my love. Me too.”

**Age 21**

James and Lily were working the closing shift in The Order and were going to meet up with their friends outside of the cafe once they locked up. They had cleaned all of the surfaces and were only waiting for the clock to hit 5 so they could lock the doors. At 4:56, a song came over the speakers and James and Lily shared a look. As ‘Perfect by Ed Sheeran’ played over the speakers, James and Lily danced around the shop and laughed out loud and they tried to avoid tables and chairs.

Remus and Sirius stood outside the window and watched their friends dance. They sat down on the bench outside, knowing that their friends were going to continue dancing until the song was over or someone walked in the door. The song was playing on the speakers outside the cafe so they knew what song was playing.

“They love this song,” Sirius commented.

“They do. It’s a surprise they haven’t pulled over while driving when the song has come on yet,” Remus replied.

“It’ll happen at one point, won’t it?”

“Oh, 100%. I enjoy watching them dance though. I don’t mind waiting whenever a song they love comes on and watching them dance.”

“Me neither,” Sirius said with a smile. “I mean, I hate dancing but I enjoy seeing them dance. They love it a lot.”

“Do you think they’ve caught on to the fact that whenever they dance we won’t stop them? Every time they realize that we were waiting for them they apologize for keeping us waiting.”

“I don’t think so, they will keep apologizing. They will probably apologize when they come out as well.”

“Yeah, they will totally apologize.”

Remus and Sirius continued to watch their best friends dance until the song stopped. Once the speakers had been turned off and the doors were locked, James and Lily joined their friends outside.

“Sorry if we kept you both waiting, we didn’t see you both until we were locking up,” James said.

“All good,” Remus replied with an eye roll. “We were right, Pads. They apologized for dancing again.”

The four friends laughed as they started walking. James and Lily knew their friends never minded waiting for them to finish dancing, but they also knew that their friends hated dancing. They would continue to apologize for a while, but eventually, they stopped apologizing and started saying ‘thanks for waiting.’

**Age 22**

It was later that evening after Lily had told James and Sirius that she was pregnant. James and Lily had gotten ready for bed and they were sitting in bed talking.

“I still can’t believe Remus was the one to figure out you were pregnant,” James said.

“I know,” Lily laughed in reply. “I can’t believe I didn’t notice first and he knew for over an hour before telling me.”

James and Lily both laughed and James put his hand on his wife’s stomach.

“I can’t believe we are going to be parents...”

“I know, James. Me neither and I’m the one carrying the baby.” Lily leaned her head on her husband’s shoulder before continuing. “Do you think we will be good parents?”

“I think so. I’m worried but I’m so excited to be a dad.”

“I’m excited to be a mom. I didn’t expect to be pregnant at 22 but now that I am, I’m excited. Do you know what this calls for?”

“A dance?”

“What else would we celebrate with?”

The soon-to-be parents got out of bed and started waltzing around the room. Lily leaned her head against her husband’s shoulder and James leaned his cheek against his wife’s head. They stayed in that position as the moved throughout the room. By next summer, there would be a crib in the room and a baby welcomed into the family. They were excited to be parents and they celebrated the news the way they would normally celebrate; with a dance.

**Age 23**

James and Lily had just been released from the hospital after Lily had given birth to their son, Harry James Potter, three days ago. They had set him in the infant swing in the living room and sat down on the couch to watch their son sleep.

“How do you feel?”

“Sore, but I’m happy to be home.”

“If you weren’t sore then I would be worried. I mean, you did give birth to our son only three days ago.”

Lily nodded her head in reply and leaned against her husband who was beside her on the couch. The small family found it weird to think that they now had a child. Their biological family now had three members and their chosen immediate family now had a fifth member. It was strange to Lily that she no longer had a baby inside of her and that baby was now sleeping in a swing just two meters from her.

“My love?” James questioned, pulling Lily out of her thoughts.

“Sorry, I was thinking. What did you say?”

“I was wondering how sore you are?”

“I’m not extremely sore. Why do you ask?”

“Would you like to dance? If you’re too sore then we will save it for later.”

“I would love to dance with you.”

James stood up from the couch and offered his hand to his wife. With a smile, Lily took his hand and he helped her stand up. They waltzed around the living room slowly until Harry started to fuss. The two immediately stopped dancing to tend to their son. They had never had an immediate reason to stop their dancing, but Harry was their son and he took precedent over their dancing. As much as the couple loved dancing, they were more than happy to stop to tend to their son.

**Age 24**

Sirius and Remus had offered to babysit Harry so that James and Lily could go on a date. It had been a while since the two had gone on a date and so their friends forced them out of the house to go do something for the evening. James had planned the date and when they arrived at a community hall, Lily shot her husband a confused look.

“They have an event tonight,” James explained. “It is a dance evening. There will be food served and dancing after. I mean, we may be the only couple under 65, but I thought you would enjoy it.”

Lily smiled at her husband as he helped her out of the car.

“I will look forward to being stared at by old people,” Lily said with a laugh. “You know how much I love dancing with you. I’m really glad you thought of this.”

James and Lily enjoyed a quiet evening of dinner and dancing. James got interrogated by old men about if he made his wife happy while Lily got interrogated about if she was pregnant. James reassured the men that he did make his wife happy and Lily explained that she was three months postpartum and then was forced to show all of the old ladies pictures of her son. As the drove home later, they laughed together at the questions they were forced to answer before, after, and between dancing. 

**Age 25**

It was Sirius and Remus’ wedding. After the newly married couple did their first dance, the floor opened up and other people joined the dance floor. Harry had run off to dance with his uncles and after checking that they were okay with him, James and Lily joined the dance floor.

“Harry has some very happy uncles wrapped around his pinkie,” James commented as he danced with his wife.

“He does,” Lily said with a smile. “They wouldn’t have it any other way though.”

“You’re not wrong.”

They continued to dance as they watched their son dance with Remus and Sirius.

“Do you think Harry will have any hope at dancing?” James questioned.

“I don’t know,” Lily responded. “We are amazing at dancing but both Remus and Sirius suck at it. I don’t even know how they made it through their first waltz without breaking each other’s toes.”

“You’ve got a really good point there. I don’t know how they did it either. I guess we will have to wait and see.”

  
  
  


Harry turned out to be an okay dancer. If he really thought about the steps then he could do it. If he didn’t think about the steps then he was just as bad as his uncles at dancing.

Remus and Sirius continued to never dance unless it was at a wedding or James and Lily forced them to. They would, however, always try to take pictures of their friends when they decided to dance. They may hate dancing, but they knew how much their friends loved it so they would take photos and wait patiently with smiles on their faces for their friends to finish.

James and Lily continued to dance whenever they could in life. When they went to the park as a family, Harry would stand with his uncles when James and Lily decided to dance. They would dance in the living room at night and Harry would sometimes watch from the stairs without his parents finding out. Maybe one day they would be the old couple in a Seniors Centre trying to dance with their walkers and canes. James and Lily hoped that they would one day be able to dance their way into the afterlife together. Until then, they would grab every opportunity they could to dance.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, Lily learned how to waltz the same way as Gabriella from HSM3. I tried to change the wording but I’m putting this in a note in case anyone realizes and thinks I am taking credit for the idea.


End file.
